Access method and system, user equipment, and network side device

ABSTRACT

An access method and system, a user equipment, and a network side device are provided. The method includes: receiving, by a user equipment, a first message that carries an identifier of a second network access point, where the second network access point can perform air interface offloading on a first network in which a user equipment is currently located; and when the first message carries identifiers of a plurality of second network access points, selecting, by the user equipment, one second network access point from the plurality of second network access points according to first auxiliary information, and accessing the selected second network access point. By adopting the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention, an access delay can be effectively shortened, and access efficiency can improved, thereby effectively implementing offloading.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/360,772, filed on Nov. 23, 2016, which is a continuation of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 14/299,654, filed on Jun. 9, 2014, now U.S.Pat. No. 9,526,055, which is a continuation of International PatentApplication No. PCT/CN2012/086059, filed on Dec. 6, 2012, which claimspriority to Chinese Patent Application No. 201110406270.9, filed on Dec.8, 2011. All of the afore-mentioned patent applications are herebyincorporated by reference in their entireties.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments of the present invention relate to the field ofcommunications technologies, and in particular, to an access method andsystem, a user equipment, and a network side device.

BACKGROUND

As a communication market develops, the number of users increases, anddata services rise, an air interface resource increasingly becomes abottleneck to the development of a communication service. If a networkin one mode can be used to perform air interface offloading on a networkin another mode, not only a throughput rate of an air interface isgreatly elevated, but also a construction cost of a network can bereduced, and meanwhile, user experience can be effectively improved.

For example, in the prior art, a technology in which a wireless localarea network (WLAN) is adopted to perform offloading on a thirdgeneration partnership project (3GPP) communication system exists, andis used to implement that when the same physical area is covered by boththe 3GPP and the WLAN, a part of data streams are transmitted in the3GPP communication system, and another part of data streams aretransmitted in the WLAN, thereby implementing offloading performed bythe WLAN on data streams in a 3GPP mobile communication network. In thetechnology, an offload control server is disposed, and after a userequipment (UE) establishes a radio resource control (RRC) connection ina radio access network (RAN), the offload control server instructs theUE to perform WLAN offloading, where this instruction carries anextended service set identifier (ESSID) that corresponds to an accesspoint (AP) used in a WLAN. The UE searches a cell in the WLAN accordingto an ESSID in a received WLAN offloading instruction, so as to obtain acorresponding AP. However, an ESSID in a WLAN AP cannot uniquelyidentify a cell because a plurality of cells may adopt one ESSID, anddifferent cells may be named with the same one ESSID. Therefore, the UEmay access a wrong WLAN AP according to an ESSID, so that the UE needsto perform access again until the UE accesses a correct WLAN AP.

In a process of implementing the present invention, the inventor findsthat the conventional art has at least the following defects: When theforegoing existing WLAN offload technology is adopted, in a process thata UE accesses a correct WLAN AP, an access delay is too long, and accessefficiency is relatively low.

SUMMARY

Embodiments of the present invention provide an access method andsystem, a user equipment, and a network side device, so as to solvedefects in the conventional art that an access delay is too long andaccess efficiency is relatively low in a process that a UE accesses acorrect WLAN AP in an existing WLAN offload technology, therebyproviding effective access.

An embodiment of the present invention provides an access method, whichincludes:

-   -   receiving, by a user equipment, a first message that carries an        identifier of a second network access point, where the second        network access point can perform air interface offloading with a        first network in which the user equipment is currently located;        and    -   when the first message carries identifiers of a plurality of        second network access points, selecting, by the user equipment,        one second network access point from the plurality of second        network access points according to first auxiliary information,        and accessing the selected second network access point.

An embodiment of the present invention further provides an accessmethod, which includes:

-   -   obtaining, by a network side device, an identifier of a second        network access point, where a second network access point        corresponding to the identifier of the second network access        point can perform air interface offloading on a first network in        which a user equipment is currently located;    -   generating, by the network side device and according to the        obtained identifier of the second network access point, a first        message that carries the identifier of the second network access        point; and    -   when the first message carries identifiers of a plurality of        second network access points, sending, by the network side        device, the first message to the user equipment, so that the        user equipment selects an identifier of one second network        access point from the identifiers of the plurality of second        network access points according to first auxiliary information        and accesses the selected second network access point.

An embodiment of the present invention provides a user equipment, whichincludes:

-   -   a receiving module, configured to receive a first message that        carries an identifier of a second network access point, where        the second network access point can perform air interface        offloading on a first network in which the user equipment is        currently located; and    -   an accessing module, configured to, when the first message        carries identifiers of a plurality of second network access        points, select one second network access point from the        plurality of second network access points according to first        auxiliary information, and access the selected second network        access point.

An embodiment of the present invention further provides a network sidedevice, which includes:

-   -   an obtaining module, configured to obtain an identifier of the        second network access point, where a second network access point        corresponding to the identifier of the second network access        point can perform air interface offloading on a first network in        which a user equipment is currently located;    -   a generating module, configured to generate, according to the        obtained identifier of the second network access point, a first        message that carries the identifier of the second network access        point; and    -   a sending module, configured to, when the first message carries        identifiers of a plurality of second network access points, send        the first message to the user equipment, so that the user        equipment selects an identifier of one second network access        point from the identifiers of the plurality of second network        access points according to first auxiliary information and        accesses the selected second network access point.

An embodiment of the present invention further provides an accesssystem, which includes the user equipment as described in the foregoingand the network side device as described in the foregoing.

With the access method and system, the user equipment, and the networkside device according to the embodiments of the present invention, anoptimal second network access point is selected through auxiliaryinformation for a user equipment to access. Therefore, an access delaycan be effectively shortened, and access efficiency can be improved,thereby effectively implementing offloading.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

To describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the presentinvention or in the prior art more clearly, the following brieflyintroduces the accompanying drawings required for describing theembodiments. Apparently, the accompanying drawings in the followingdescription show merely some embodiments of the present invention, andpersons of ordinary skill in the art may still derive other drawingsfrom these accompanying drawings without creative efforts.

FIG. 1 is a flow chart of an access method provided in an embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 2 is a flow chart of an access method provided in anotherembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a signaling diagram of an access method provided in anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a signaling diagram of an access method provided in anotherembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a signaling diagram of an access method provided in yetanother embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a signaling diagram of an access method provided in stillanother embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of a UE provided in anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a network side deviceprovided in an embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of an access system provided inan embodiment of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of theembodiments of the present invention more comprehensible, the followingclearly describes the technical solutions in the embodiments of thepresent invention with reference to the accompanying drawings in theembodiments of the present invention. Apparently, the embodiments to bedescribed are merely a part rather than all of the embodiments of thepresent invention. All other embodiments obtained by persons of ordinaryskill in the art based on the embodiments of the present inventionwithout creative efforts shall fall within the protection scope of thepresent invention.

FIG. 1 is a flow chart of an access method provided in an embodiment ofthe present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the access method provided inthis embodiment may specifically include the following steps.

100: A UE receives a first message that carries an identifier of asecond network access point.

In this embodiment, a second network access point of the identifier ofthe second network access point can perform air interface offloading ona first network in which the UE is currently located. It may beunderstood that a second network and the first network are communicationnetworks of different standards, and the second network may perform airinterface offloading on the first network. Furthermore, in a situationwhere various second networks have common coverage, the second networksmay be a plurality of networks of different standards. Optionally, theidentifier of the second network access point in this embodiment canuniquely identify the second network access point.

101: When the first message carries identifiers of a plurality of secondnetwork access points, the UE selects one second network access pointfrom the plurality of second network access points according to firstauxiliary information, and accesses the selected second network accesspoint.

With the access method according to this embodiment, a UE receives afirst message that carries an identifier of a second network accesspoint, and when the first message carries identifiers of a plurality ofsecond network access points, the UE selects one second network accesspoint from the plurality of second network access points according tofirst auxiliary information, and accesses the corresponding secondnetwork access point.

Optionally, according to step 101 “when the first message carriesidentifiers of a plurality of second network access points” in thisembodiment, it can be known that the first message received in step 100may carry an identifier of one second network access point, and may alsocarry identifiers of a plurality of second network access points. Whenthe first message carries identifiers of a plurality of second networkaccess points, step 100 “A UE receives a first message that carries anidentifier of a second network access point” may be understood as that:a UE receives a first message that carries identifiers of a plurality ofsecond network access points.

By adopting the technical solution in this embodiment, one secondnetwork access point is selected from a plurality of second networkaccess points according to first auxiliary information, and a UE doesnot need to attempt to access second network access points one by one,so that an access delay can be effectively shortened, and accessefficiency can be improved, thereby effectively implementing offloading.

Optionally, step 100 “A UE receives a first message that carries anidentifier of a second network access point” in the foregoing embodimentmay specifically be that: a UE receives a first message that is sent bya network side device and carries an identifier of a second networkaccess point.

Optionally, based on the technical solution in the foregoing embodiment,in a situation where the first network in which the UE is currentlylocated simultaneously covers a plurality of second networks, forexample, in a scenario of a macro site of the first network, theidentifiers of the plurality of second network access points carried inthe first message that is received by the UE in step 100 in theforegoing embodiment may be obtained through screening performed by thenetwork side device according to second auxiliary information of eachsecond network access point, where the second auxiliary informationincludes position information of each second network access point and/orload information of each second network access point. At this time,correspondingly, step 101 “the UE selects one second network accesspoint from the plurality of second network access points according tofirst auxiliary information and accesses the selected second networkaccess point” may specifically include that: the UE selects one secondnetwork access point front the plurality of second network access pointsaccording to position information of the UE and/or signal qualityinformation of each second network access point, and accesses theselected second network access point. In this solution, the UE and anetwork side together select and determine an identifier of a secondnetwork access point, where the identifier of the second network accesspoint corresponds to a second network access point to be accessed by theUE. For example, the network side screens the plurality of secondnetwork access points according to the position information of eachsecond network access point and/or the load information of each secondnetwork access point, and obtains identifiers of the plurality of secondnetwork access points, and then the UE further selects one secondnetwork access point from the plurality of second network access pointsaccording to the position information of the UE and/or the signalquality information of each second network access point, and accessesthe corresponding second network access point.

Optionally, based on the technical solution in the embodimentcorresponding to FIG. 1, in a situation where the first network in whichthe UE is currently located simultaneously covers a plurality of secondnetworks, for example, in a scenario of a macro site of the firstnetwork, the network side may not participate in selection and only theUE performs the selection. At this time, correspondingly, when the firstmessage received in step 100 in the foregoing embodiment further carriesposition information of each second network access point and/or loadinformation of each second network access point, the UE selects onesecond network access point from the plurality of second network accesspoints according to the position information of each second networkaccess point and/or the load information of each second network accesspoint and position information of the UE and/or signal qualityinformation of each second network access point, and accesses thecorresponding second network access point. In this optional solution,the network side device sends the position information of each secondnetwork access point and/or the load information of each second networkaccess point to the UE, and the UE selects and accesses one of theplurality of second network access points with reference to the positioninformation of the UE itself and/or the signal quality information ofeach second network access point.

In addition, based on the technical solution in the embodimentcorresponding to FIG. 1, when the first message includes only anidentifier of one second network access point, the UE directly accessesa second network access point corresponding to the identifier of the onesecond network access point. A typical application scenario of thesolution is that coverage of the first network is the same as or isapproximate to that of the second network. For example, in a scenario ofa micro site, at this time, in the network side device, one firstnetwork corresponds to only an identifier of one second network accesspoint, and correspondingly, the network side device can obtain only anidentifier of one second network access point, and send a first messageto the UE, where the first message carries the identifier of the onesecond network node.

Or, optionally, when the first message received by the UE in step 100includes only an identifier of one second network access point, at thistime, correspondingly, the network side device selects one secondnetwork access point from a plurality of second network access points.For example, when the identifier of the one second network access pointis obtained through screening performed by the network side device onthe plurality of second network access points, the access method in theforegoing embodiment may further include:

sending, by the UE, position information of the UE and/or signal qualityinformation of each second network access point to the network sidedevice, so that the network side device selects one second networkaccess point from the plurality of second network access pointsaccording to the position information of the UE and/or the signalquality information of each second network access point; and thensending, by the network side device, to the UE a first message thatcarries the identifier of the one second network access point.

As described in the foregoing, when the first message includes only theidentifier of the one second network access point, at this time, step100 “A UE receives a first message that carries an identifier of asecond network access point” may be understood as that: “a UE receives afirst message that carries an identifier of one second network accesspoint”. Optionally, in the foregoing embodiment, a situation where thenetwork side device actively initiates the first message is described.In actual application, the UE may also initiate a trigger to the networkside device, and then the network side device sends the first message.For example, before step 100 in the foregoing embodiment, the method mayfurther include: sending, by the UE, an air interface offloading requestmessage of a network access point to the network side device through thefirst network.

Optionally, the first message is a message after the air interfaceoffloading request message and before the UE accesses the second networkaccess point.

The first network in the foregoing embodiment may be a 3GPP mobilecommunication network, and the second network is a non-3GPP mobilecommunication network; or

-   -   the first network is a non-3GPP mobile communication network,        and the second network is a short distance wireless        communication network; or    -   the first network is a 3GPP mobile communication network, and        the second network is a short distance wireless communication        network.

The 3GPP mobile communication network includes a global mobilecommunication (GSM), wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA),time division-synchronous code division multiple access (TD-SCDMA), orlong term evolution (LTE) network. The non-3GPP mobile communicationnetwork includes worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX)or code division multiple access (CDMA) 2000. The short distancewireless communication network includes a WLAN, infrared, Bluetooth, orZigbee. In the embodiment of the present invention, it is preferred thatthe second network is a short distance wireless communication network.

Optionally, in the foregoing embodiment, when the second network is aWLAN, the identifier of the second network access point includes a basicservice set identifier (BSSID) of the second network access point or amedia access control (Medium/Media Access Control, hereinafter referredto as MAC) layer address of the second network access point, or acombination of the two. Definitely, based on the foregoing combination,an ESSID may further be included. For example, the identifier of thesecond network access point may be the BSSID of the second networkaccess point+an ESSID of the second network access point.

By adopting the technical solution in the foregoing embodiment, anoptimal second network access point can be selected through auxiliaryinformation for a UE to access, and the UE does not need to attempt toaccess second network access points one by one. Therefore, an accessdelay can be effectively shortened, and access efficiency can beimproved, thereby effectively implementing offloading.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart of an access method provided in anotherembodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, the accessmethod in this embodiment may specifically include the following steps.

200: A network side device obtains an identifier of a second networkaccess point.

In this embodiment, a second network access point corresponding to theidentifier of the second network access point can perform air interfaceoffloading on a first network in which a UE is currently located.

201: The network side device generates, according to the obtainedidentifier of the second network access point, a first message thatcarries the identifier of the second network access point.

202: When the first message carries identifiers of a plurality of secondnetwork access points, the network side device sends the first messageto the UE, so that the UE selects an identifier of one second networkaccess point from the identifiers of the plurality of second networkaccess points according to first auxiliary information and accesses theselected second network access point.

It may be understood that a second network and the first network in thisembodiment are communication networks of different standards and thesecond network may perform air interface offloading on the firstnetwork. Furthermore, in a situation where various second networks havecommon coverage, the second networks may be a plurality of networks ofdifferent standards. Optionally, the identifier of the second networkaccess point in this embodiment can uniquely identify the second networkaccess point.

Optionally, in this embodiment, the network side device may obtain anidentifier of one second network access point, and may also obtainidentifiers of a plurality of second network access points.Correspondingly, when the network side device generates, according tothe obtained identifier of the second network access point, a firstmessage that carries the identifier of the second network access point,the network side device may generate a first message that carries anidentifier of one second network access point, or may generate a firstmessage that carries identifiers of a plurality of second network accesspoints. When the first message carries identifiers of a plurality ofsecond network access points, the first message sent by the network sidedevice to the UE carries the identifiers of the plurality of secondnetwork access points. In this way, the UE may select an identifier ofone second network access point from the identifiers of the plurality ofsecond network access points in the first message according to the firstauxiliary information and access the selected second network accesspoint.

A difference between this embodiment and the embodiment shown in FIG. 1lies only in that in this embodiment, the technical solution in theembodiment of the present invention is described from a network deviceside, while in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the technical solution inthe embodiment of the present invention is described from a UE side. Forspecific implementation processes of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 andthat shown in FIG. 2, reference may be made to each other.

With the access method according to this embodiment, a network sidedevice obtains an identifier of a second network access point, and thenetwork side device generates, according to the obtained identifier ofthe second network access point, a first message that carries the secondidentifier of the network access point. When the first message carriesidentifiers of a plurality of second network access points, the networkside device sends the first message to a UE, so that the UE selects anidentifier of one second network access point from the identifiers ofthe plurality of second network access points according to firstauxiliary information, and accesses the selected second network accesspoint. With the technical solution in this embodiment, the UE canselect, according to first auxiliary information, an identifier of onesecond network access point from identifiers of a plurality of secondnetwork access points to access, and the UE does not need to attempt toaccess second network access points one by one, so that an access delaycan be effectively shortened, and access efficiency can be improved,thereby effectively implementing offloading.

Optionally, the technical solution in the embodiment corresponding toFIG. 2 may be applied to a situation where the first network in whichthe UE is currently located simultaneously covers a plurality of secondnetworks, for example, in a scenario of a macro site of the firstnetwork, the UE selects an identifier of a second network access pointto be accessed.

Optionally, based on the technical solution in the foregoing embodiment,when the first message includes identifiers of a plurality of secondnetwork access points, step 201 “The network side device generates,according to the obtained identifier of the second network access point,a first message that carries the identifier of the second network accesspoint” specifically includes that: the network side device screensobtained second network access points according to position informationof each second network access point and/or load information of eachsecond network access point, and generates a first message that carriesthe identifiers of the plurality of second network access points. Forexample, the solution may be applied to a situation where the firstnetwork in which the UE is currently located simultaneously covers aplurality of second networks, for example, in a scenario of a macro siteof the first network, the UE and the network side device together selectan identifier of a second network access point, where the identifier ofthe second network access point corresponds to a second network accesspoint to be accessed by the UE. For example, a network side screens theplurality of second network access points according to the positioninformation of each second network access point and/or the loadinformation of each second network access point, and obtains identifiersof the plurality of second network access point, and then the UE furtherselects one second network access point from the plurality of secondnetwork access points according to position information of the UE and/orsignal quality information of each second network access point, andaccesses the selected second network access point.

Optionally, based on the technical solution in the foregoing embodiment,when the first message includes identifiers of a plurality of secondnetwork access points, step 201 “The network side device generates,according to the obtained identifier of the second network access point,a first message that carries the identifier of the second network accesspoint” may specifically include that: the network side device directlygenerates a first message that carries obtained identifiers of allsecond network access points. A typical application scenario of thesolution is a situation where the first network in which the UE iscurrently located simultaneously covers a plurality of second networks.For example, in a scenario of a macro site of the first network, the UEdevice selects an identifier of a second network access point of thesecond network access point to be accessed.

Optionally, based on the technical solution in the foregoing embodiment,when the first message includes only an identifier of one second networkaccess point, the access method in the foregoing embodiment furtherincludes:

-   -   sending, by the network side device, to the UE a first message        that carries the identifier of the one second network access        point, so that the UE accesses a second network access point        corresponding to the identifier of the one second network access        point.

Further, optionally, the access method in the foregoing embodimentfurther includes: receiving, by the network side device, a secondmessage that is sent by the UE and carries position information of theUE and/or signal quality information of each second network accesspoint.

Further, optionally, when the first message includes only an identifierof one second network access point, the network side device generates afirst message that carries an identifier of one second network accesspoint, which specifically includes that: the network side device screensa plurality of second network access points according to the positioninformation of the UE and/or the signal quality information of eachsecond network access point and position information of each secondnetwork access point and/or load information of each second networkaccess point, and generates a first message that carries only theidentifier of the one second network access point. A typical applicationscenario of the solution is a situation where the first network in whichthe UE is currently located simultaneously covers a plurality of secondnetworks. For example, in a scenario of a macro site of the firstnetwork, the network side device selects an identifier of a secondnetwork access point of the second network access point to be accessed.

Optionally, the first network in the foregoing embodiment is a 3GPPmobile communication network, and the second network is a non-3GPPmobile communication network; or

-   -   the first network is a non-3GPP mobile communication network,        and the second network is a short distance wireless        communication network; or    -   the first network is a 3GPP mobile communication network, and        the second network is a short distance wireless communication        network.

The 3GPP mobile communication network includes a GSM, WCDMA, TD-SCDMA,or LTE network. The non-3GPP mobile communication network includes WIMAXor CDMA2000. The short distance wireless communication network includesa WLAN, infrared, Bluetooth, or Zigbee. In the embodiment of the presentinvention, it is preferred that the second network is a short distancewireless communication network.

Optionally, in the foregoing embodiment, when the second network is aWLAN, the identifier of the second network access point includes a basicservice set identifier BSSID of the second network access point and/or amedia access control (MAC) layer address of the second network accesspoint. Definitely, based on the foregoing combination, an ESSID mayfurther be included. For example, the identifier of the second networkaccess point may be the BSSID of the second network access point+anESSID of the second network access point.

It should be noted that based on the technical solution in the foregoingembodiment, the foregoing access method further includes: receiving, bythe network side device, registration information sent by a secondnetwork access point, where the registration information includes anidentifier of the second network access point; and then establishing, bythe network side device, a mapping relationship between the identifierof the second network access point and the first network. That is tosay, on the network device side, a plurality of second network accesspoints used for performing offloading on the first network need toregister with the network device side in advance. In this way, thenetwork device side may allocate, for the first network, a correspondingsecond network access point used for offloading, and establish a bindingrelationship or a mapping relationship between the second network accesspoint and the first network. For example, the network device sideestablishes a mapping between an identifier of a second network accesspoint and the first network. In actual application, in a situation wherethe first network in which the UE is currently located simultaneouslycovers a plurality of second networks, for example, in a scenario of amicro site of the first network, one first network may correspond toonly an identifier of one second network access point. In a scenario ofa macro site, one first network may correspond to identifiers of aplurality of second network access points. In actual application, theregistration information of the second network access point may furtherinclude at least one of: position information of the second networkaccess point, an ESSID of the second network access point, and an IPaddress of the second network access point.

By adopting the technical solution in the foregoing embodiment, onesecond network access point can be selected from a plurality of secondnetwork access points for a UE to access, and the UE does not need toattempt to access second network access points one by one, so that anaccess delay can be effectively shortened, and access efficiency can beimproved, thereby effectively implementing offloading.

FIG. 3 is a signaling diagram of an access method provided in anembodiment of the present invention. In the access method in thisembodiment, a scenario of a micro site of a first network in a situationwhere the first network in which a UE is currently locatedsimultaneously covers a plurality of second networks is taken as anexample to introduce the technical solution of the present invention indetail. As shown in FIG. 3, the access method in this embodiment mayinclude the following steps.

300: A second network access point sends registration information to anetwork side device, so as to register on the network side device.

The registration information includes an identifier of the secondnetwork access point, and may further include position information ofeach second network access point and/or load information of each secondnetwork access point.

301: The network side device establishes a mapping between the firstnetwork and the identifier of the second network access point.

In this embodiment, in a scenario of a micro site, the first networkcorresponds to only one second network access point, and the identifierof the second network access point in this embodiment can uniquelyidentify the second network access point.

302: The UE sends an offloading request message to the network sidedevice through the first network in which the UE is currently located.

303: The network side device determines the first network currentlyaccessed by the UE, and obtains the identifier of the second networkaccess point according to the mapping relationship between the firstnetwork and the identifier of the second network access point.

304: The network side device sends a first message to the UE through thefirst network, where the first message carries the identifier of thesecond network access point.

For example, in this embodiment, the first message may be an offloadingestablishment message.

305: The UE receives, through the first network currently accessed bythe UE, the first message that is sent by the network side device andcarries the identifier of the second network access point, and the UEobtains the identifier of the second network access point.

306: The UE accesses a second network access point corresponding to theidentifier of the second network access point.

Preferably, the first network in this embodiment is a 3GPP mobilecommunication network or a non-3GPP mobile communication network, andthe second network is a short distance wireless communication network.The 3GPP mobile communication network, the non-3GPP mobile communicationnetwork, the short distance wireless communication network, and theidentifier of the second network access point are the same as thosedescribed in the foregoing embodiment, and for details, reference may bemade to the description of the foregoing embodiment, which is notdescribed herein again.

With the access method according to this embodiment, by adopting thetechnical solution in the foregoing embodiment, a UE can obtain a secondnetwork access point that can be accessed by the UE, and the UE does notneed to attempt to access second network access points one by one, sothat an access delay can be effectively shortened, and access efficiencycan be improved, thereby effectively implementing offloading.

FIG. 4 is a signaling diagram of an access method provided in anotherembodiment of the present invention. In the access method in thisembodiment, it is taken as an example that a UE selects an identifier ofa second network access point to be accessed in a scenario of a macrosite of a first network in a situation where the first network in whichthe UE is currently located simultaneously covers a plurality of secondnetworks, so as to introduce the technical solution of the presentinvention in detail. As shown in FIG. 4, the access method in thisembodiment may specifically include the following steps.

400: A plurality of second network access points send registrationinformation to a network side device, so as to register with the networkside device.

Registration information sent by each second network access pointincludes an identifier of the second network access point and positioninformation of each second network access point and/or load informationof each second network access point.

401: The network side device establishes a mapping between the firstnetwork and identifiers of the plurality of second network accesspoints.

In this embodiment, in a scenario of a macro site, the first networkcorresponds to a plurality of second network access points, and anidentifier of each second network access point in this embodiment canuniquely identify the second network access point.

402: The UE sends an offloading request message to the network sidedevice through the first network in which the UE is currently located.

403: The network side device determines the first network currentlyaccessed by the UE, and obtains the identifiers of the plurality ofsecond network access points according to the mapping between the firstnetwork and the identifiers of the plurality of second network accesspoints.

404: The network side device sends a first message to the UE through thefirst network, where the first message carries the identifiers of theplurality of second network access points, the position information ofeach second network access point and/or the load information of eachsecond network access point.

For example, in this embodiment, the first message may be an offloadingestablishment message.

405: The UE receives, through the first network currently accessed bythe UE, the first message that is sent by the network side device andcarries the identifiers of the plurality of second network accesspoints, and the UE obtains the identifiers of the plurality ofcorresponding second network access points.

406: The UE selects an identifier of one second network access pointfrom the identifiers of the plurality of second network access pointsaccording to position information of the UE and/or signal qualityinformation of each second network access point and the positioninformation of each second network access point and/or the loadinformation of each second network access point.

407: The UE accesses a second network access point corresponding to theidentifier of the selected second network access point.

For example, the UE may obtain an identifier of one second networkaccess point that is closest to the UE from the identifiers of theplurality of second network access points according to the positioninformation of the UE and position information of the plurality ofsecond network access points. Or, the UE may also obtain an identifierof a second network access point that is closest to the UE and has asmallest load from the identifiers of the plurality of second networkaccess points through the position information of the UE, positioninformation of the plurality of second network access points, and loadinformation of the plurality of second network access points. Or, the UEmay also obtain identifiers of a plurality of second network accesspoints with the best signal quality information from the identifiers ofthe plurality of second network access points according to signalquality information of the plurality of second network access points,where the signal quality information is obtained through detectionperformed by the UE. Or, the UE may also comprehensively consider theposition information of the UE, signal quality information of eachsecond network access point, the position information of each secondnetwork access point, and the load information of each second networkaccess point, where the signal quality information is obtained throughdetection performed by the UE, so as to obtain an identifier of a secondnetwork access point, where the identifier of the second network accesspoint corresponds to a second network access point that is good invarious aspects. In actual application, other manners of selecting anidentifier of one second network access point from the identifiers ofthe plurality of second network access points deduced from the foregoingmanners may be adopted, and examples are not listed one by one herein.In this embodiment, the UE can obtain the signal quality information ofeach second network access point through detection.

Preferably, the first network in this embodiment is a 3GPP mobilecommunication network or a non-3GPP mobile communication network, andthe second network is a short distance wireless communication network.The 3GPP mobile communication network, the non-3GPP mobile communicationnetwork, the short distance wireless communication network, and theidentifier of the second network access point are the same as thosedescribed in the foregoing embodiment, and for details, reference may bemade to the description of the foregoing embodiment, which is notdescribed herein again.

With the access method according to this embodiment, by adopting thetechnical solution in the foregoing embodiment, a UE can select anidentifier of one second network access point from identifiers of aplurality of second network access points according to positioninformation of the UE and/or signal quality information of each secondnetwork access point, and position information of each second networkaccess point and/or load information of each second network accesspoint, and accesses the selected second network access point. The UEdoes not need to attempt to access second network access points one byone, so that defects in the prior art that an access delay is too longand access efficiency is relatively low in a process that a UE accessesa correct WLAN AP can be solved, the access delay can be effectivelyshortened, and the access efficiency can be improved, therebyeffectively implementing offloading.

FIG. 5 is a signaling diagram of an access method provided in yetanother embodiment of the present invention. In the access method inthis embodiment, it is taken as an example that a network side deviceselects an identifier of a second network access point to be accessed ina scenario of a macro site of a first network in a situation where thefirst network in which a UE is currently located simultaneously covers aplurality of second networks, so as to introduce the technical solutionof the present invention in detail. As shown in FIG. 5, the accessmethod in this embodiment may include the following steps.

500: A plurality of second network access points send registrationinformation to the network side device, so as to register with thenetwork side device.

Registration information sent by each second network access pointincludes an identifier of the second network access point and positioninformation of each second network access point and/or load informationof each second network access point.

501: The network side device establishes a mapping between the firstnetwork and identifiers of the plurality of second network accesspoints.

In this embodiment, in a scenario of a macro site, the first networkcorresponds to a plurality of second network access points, and anidentifier of each second network access point in this embodiment canuniquely identify the second network access point.

502: The UE reports position information of the UE and/or signal qualityinformation of the plurality of second network access points to thenetwork side device through the first network in which the UE iscurrently located.

503: The UE sends an offloading request message to the network sidedevice through the first network in which the UE is currently located.

There may be no sequence between step 502 and step 503.

504: The network side device determines the first network currentlyaccessed by the UE, and selects, according to the position informationof the UE and/or the signal quality information of the plurality ofsecond network access points and the position information of each secondnetwork access point and/or the load information of each second networkaccess point, an identifier of one second network access point from theidentifiers of the plurality of second network access pointscorresponding to the first network.

For example, the network side device may obtain an identifier of onesecond network access point that is closest to the UE from theidentifiers of the plurality of second network access points accordingto the position information of the UE and position information of theplurality of second network access points. Or, the network side devicemay also obtain an identifier of a second network access point that isclosest to the UE and has a smallest load from the identifiers of theplurality of second network access points through the positioninformation of the UE, position information of the plurality of secondnetwork access points, and load information of the plurality of secondnetwork access points. Or, the network side device may also obtainidentifiers of a plurality of second network access points with the bestsignal quality information from the identifiers of the plurality ofsecond network access points according to signal quality information ofthe plurality of second network access points, where the signal qualityinformation is obtained through detection performed by the UE. Or, theposition information of the UE, signal quality information of eachsecond network access point, the position information of each secondnetwork access point, and the load information of each second networkaccess point may be comprehensively considered, where the signal qualityinformation is obtained through detection performed by the UE, so as toobtain an identifier of a second network access point, where theidentifier of the second network access point corresponds to a secondnetwork access point that is good in various aspects. In actualapplication, other manners of selecting an identifier of one secondnetwork access point from the identifiers of the plurality of secondnetwork access points deduced from the foregoing manners may be adopted,and examples are not listed one by one herein.

505: The network side device sends a first message to the UE through thefirst network, where the first message carries the identifier of the oneselected second network access point.

For example, in this embodiment, the first message may be an offloadingestablishment message.

506: The UE receives, through the first network currently accessed bythe UE, the first message that is sent by the network side device andcarries the identifier of the one second network access point, and theUE obtains the identifier of the one corresponding second network accesspoint.

507: The UE accesses a second network access point corresponding to theidentifier of the one second network access point.

In this embodiment, the UE can obtain the signal quality information ofeach second network access point through detection.

Optionally, the first network in this embodiment is a 3GPP mobilecommunication network or a non-3GPP mobile communication network, andthe second network is a short distance wireless communication network.The 3GPP mobile communication network, the non-3GPP mobile communicationnetwork, the short distance wireless communication network, and theidentifier of the second network access point are the same as thosedescribed in the foregoing embodiment, and for details, reference may bemade to the description of the foregoing embodiment, which is notdescribed herein again.

With the access method according to this embodiment, by adopting thetechnical solution in the foregoing embodiment, a network side devicecan obtain, according to position information of a UE and/or signalquality information of a plurality of second network access points andposition information of each second network access point and/or loadinformation of each second network access point, an identifier of onesecond network access point from identifiers of the plurality of secondnetwork access points corresponding to a first network, and notifies theUE, so that the UE accesses a second network access point correspondingto the identifier of the second network access point. The UE does notneed to attempt to access second network access points one by one, sothat an access delay can be effectively shortened, and access efficiencycan be improved, thereby effectively implementing offloading.

FIG. 6 is a signaling diagram of an access method provided in stillanother embodiment of the present invention. In the access method inthis embodiment, it is taken as an example that a UE and a network sidedevice together select an identifier of a second network access point tobe accessed in a scenario of a macro site of a first network in asituation where the first network in which the UE is currently locatedsimultaneously covers a plurality of second networks, so as to introducethe technical solution of the present invention in detail. As shown inFIG. 6, the access method in this embodiment may specifically includethe following steps.

600: A plurality of second network access points send registrationinformation to the network side device, so as to register with thenetwork side device.

Registration information sent by each second network access pointincludes at least an identifier of the second network access point andposition information of each second network access point and/or loadinformation of each second network access point.

601: The network side device establishes a mapping between the firstnetwork and identifiers of the plurality of second network accesspoints.

In this embodiment, in a scenario of a macro site, the first networkcorresponds to a plurality of second network access points, and anidentifier of each second network access point in this embodiment canuniquely identify the second network access point.

602: The UE reports position information of the UE to the network sidedevice through the first network in which the UE is currently located.

603: The UE sends an offloading request message to the network sidedevice through the first network in which the UE is currently located.

There may be no sequence between step 602 and step 603.

604: The network side device determines the first network currentlyaccessed by the UE, and obtains, according to the position informationof the UE and the position information of each second network accesspoint and/or the load information of each second network access point,an identifier of at least one second network access point from theidentifiers of the plurality of second network access pointscorresponding to the first network.

For example, the network side device may obtain an identifier of atleast one second network access point that is closest to the UE from theidentifiers of the plurality of second network access points accordingto the position information of the UE and position information of theplurality of second network access points. Or, the network side devicemay also obtain an identifier of at least one second network accesspoint that is closest to the UE and has a smallest load from theidentifiers of the plurality of second network access points through theposition information of the UE, position information of the plurality ofsecond network access points, and load information of the plurality ofsecond network access points. Or, the network side device may alsoobtain an identifier of at least one second network access point thathas a smallest load from the identifiers of the plurality of secondnetwork access points according to load information of the plurality ofsecond network access points. In actual application, other manners ofselecting an identifier of one second network access point from theidentifiers of the plurality of second network access points deducedfrom the foregoing manners may be adopted, and examples are not listedone by one herein.

605: The network side device sends a first message to the UE through thefirst network, where the first message carries the identifier of the atleast one second network access point.

For example, in this embodiment, the first message may be an offloadingestablishment message.

606: The UE receives, through the first network currently accessed bythe UE, the first message that is sent by the network side device andcarries the identifier of the at least one second network access point,and the UE obtains the identifier of the corresponding at least onesecond network access point.

607: The UE selects an identifier of one second network access pointfrom the identifier of the at least one second network access pointaccording to signal quality information of each second network accesspoint.

For example, the UE obtains an identifier of a second network accesspoint from the identifier of the at least one second network accesspoint according to the signal quality information of each second networkaccess point, where the identifier of the second network access pointcorresponds to a second network access point with the best signalquality.

608: The UE accesses a second network access point corresponding to theidentifier of the selected second network access point.

In this embodiment, the UE can obtain the signal quality information ofeach second network access point through detection.

Preferably, the first network in this embodiment is a 3GPP mobilecommunication network or a non-3GPP mobile communication network, andthe second network is a short distance wireless communication network.The 3GPP mobile communication network, the non-3GPP mobile communicationnetwork, the short distance wireless communication network, and theidentifier of the second network access point are the same as thosedescribed in the foregoing embodiment, and for details, reference may bemade to the description of the foregoing embodiment, which is notdescribed herein again.

With the access method according to this embodiment, by adopting thetechnical solution in the foregoing embodiment, a network side deviceand a UE together select an identifier of a second network access pointthat can be accessed by the UE, so that the UE accesses a second networkaccess point corresponding to the identifier of the second networkaccess point. The UE does not need to attempt to access second networkaccess points one by one, so that an access delay can be effectivelyshortened, and access efficiency can be improved, thereby effectivelyimplementing offloading.

Persons of ordinary skill in the art may understand that, all or part ofthe steps of the foregoing method embodiments may be implemented by aprogram instructing relevant hardware. The foregoing program may bestored in a computer readable storage medium. When the program is run,the steps included in the foregoing method embodiments are performed.The foregoing storage medium may be any medium capable of storingprogram codes, such as a ROM, a RAM, a magnetic disk, or an opticaldisk.

FIG. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of a UE provided in anembodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 7, the UE in thisembodiment may include: a receiving module 10 and an accessing module11.

In this embodiment, the receiving module 10 is configured to receive afirst message that carries an identifier of a second network accesspoint, where the second network access point can perform air interfaceoffloading on a first network in which the UE is currently located. Theaccessing module 11 is connected to the receiving module 10, and theaccessing module 11 is configured to, when the first message carriesidentifiers of a plurality of second network access points, select,according to first auxiliary information, one second network accesspoint from the plurality of second network access points received by thereceiving module 10; and access the selected second network accesspoint.

With the UE in this embodiment, an implementation mechanism forimplementing access by adopting the foregoing modules is the same as animplementation mechanism in the foregoing relevant method embodiment,and for details, reference may be made to the description of theforegoing relevant method embodiment, which is not described hereinagain.

With the UE according to this embodiment, by adopting the foregoingmodules, one second network access point can be selected from aplurality of second network access points according to first auxiliaryinformation, and the UE does not need to attempt to access secondnetwork access points one by one, so that an access delay can beeffectively shortened, and access efficiency can be improved, therebyeffectively implementing offloading.

Optionally, based on the embodiment shown in FIG. 7, the followingextended technical solution may further be included to form an extendedembodiment of the embodiment shown in FIG. 7.

In the extended embodiment of the embodiment shown in FIG. 7, theidentifiers of the plurality of second network access points carried inthe first message are obtained through screening performed by a networkside device according to second auxiliary information of each secondnetwork access point. The second auxiliary information includes positioninformation of each second network access point and/or load informationof each second network access point. At this time, correspondingly, theaccessing module 11 is configured to select one second network accesspoint from the plurality of second network access points according toposition information of the UE and/or signal quality information of eachsecond network access point, and access the selected second networkaccess point.

Optionally, in the extended embodiment of the embodiment shown in FIG.7, the accessing module 11 is configured to, when the first messagefurther carries position information of each second network access pointand/or load information of each access point, select one second networkaccess point from the plurality of second network access pointsaccording to the position information of each second network accesspoint and/or the load information of each second network access point inthe first message that is received by the receiving module 10 andposition information of the user equipment and/or signal qualityinformation of each second network access point, and access the selectedsecond network access point.

Optionally, in the extended embodiment of the embodiment shown in FIG.7, the accessing module 11 is configured to, when the first messageincludes only an identifier of one second network access point, access asecond network access point corresponding to the identifier of the onesecond network access point.

At this time, further, optionally, the UE may further include a sendingmodule. The sending module is configured to, when the identifier of theone second network access point is obtained through screening performedby the network side device on the plurality of second network accesspoints, send position information of the UE and/or signal qualityinformation of each second network access point to the network sidedevice, so that the network side device selects one second networkaccess point from the plurality of second network access pointsaccording to the position information of the UE and/or the signalquality information of each second network access point.

Optionally, the sending module in the foregoing embodiment is furtherconfigured to send an air interface offloading request message of anetwork access point to the network side device through the firstnetwork.

Optionally, the first message in the foregoing embodiment is a messageafter the air interface offloading request message and before the UEaccesses the second network access point.

Optionally, the first network in the foregoing embodiment is a 3GPPmobile communication network, and a second network is a non-3GPP mobilecommunication network; or the first network is a non-3GPP mobilecommunication network, and a second network is a short distance wirelesscommunication network; or the first network is a 3GPP mobilecommunication network, and a second network is a short distance wirelesscommunication network.

Optionally, the 3GPP mobile communication network in the foregoingembodiment includes a GSM, WCDMA, TD-SCDMA, or LTE network. The non-3GPPmobile communication network includes WIMAX or CDMA2000. The shortdistance wireless communication network includes a WLAN, infrared,Bluetooth, or Zigbee.

Optionally, in the foregoing embodiment, when the second network is aWLAN, the identifier of the second network access point includes one ora combination of the following: a BSSID of the second network accesspoint and a media access control MAC layer address of the second networkaccess point. Definitely, based on the foregoing combination, an ESSIDmay further be included. For example, the identifier of the secondnetwork access point may be the BSSID of the second network accesspoint+an ESSID of the second network access point.

With the UE in the foregoing embodiment, an implementation mechanism forimplementing access by adopting the foregoing modules is the same as animplementation mechanism in the foregoing relevant method embodiment,and for details, reference may be made to the description of theforegoing relevant method embodiment, which is not described hereinagain.

With the UE according to the foregoing embodiment, by adopting theforegoing modules, an optimal second network access point can beselected through auxiliary information for the UE to access, and the UEdoes not need to attempt to access second network access points one byone. Therefore, an access delay can be effectively shortened, and accessefficiency can be improved, thereby effectively implementing offloading.

FIG. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a network side deviceprovided in an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 8,the network side device in this embodiment may specifically include: anobtaining module 20, a generating module 21, and a sending module 22.

The obtaining module 20 is configured to obtain an identifier of asecond network access point, where a second network access pointcorresponding to the identifier of the second network access point canperform air interface offloading on a first network in which a UE iscurrently located. The generating module 21 is connected to theobtaining module 20, and the generating module 21 is configured togenerate, according to the obtained identifier of the second networkaccess point, a first message that carries the identifier of the secondnetwork access point obtained by the obtaining module 20. The sendingmodule 22 is connected to the generating module 21, and the sendingmodule 22 is configured to, when the first message generated by thegenerating module 21 carries identifiers of a plurality of secondnetwork access points, send, to the UE, the first message generated bythe generating module 21, so that the UE selects an identifier of onesecond network access point from the identifiers of the plurality ofsecond network access points according to first auxiliary informationand accesses the selected network access point.

With the network side device in this embodiment, an implementationmechanism for implementing access by adopting the foregoing modules isthe same as an implementation mechanism in the foregoing relevant methodembodiment, and for details, reference may be made to the description ofthe foregoing relevant method embodiment, which is not described hereinagain.

With the network side device according to this embodiment, an identifierof a second network access point can be obtained by adopting theforegoing modules, and according to the obtained identifier of thesecond network access point, a first message that carries the identifierof the second network access point is generated. When the first messagecarries identifiers of a plurality of second network access points, thefirst message is sent to a UE, so that the UE selects an identifier ofone second network access point from the identifiers of the plurality ofsecond network access points according to first auxiliary informationand accesses the selected second network access point. With thetechnical solution in this embodiment, the UE can select, according tofirst auxiliary information, an identifier of one second network accesspoint from identifiers of a plurality of second network access points toaccess, and the UE does not need to attempt to access second networkaccess points one by one, so that an access delay can be effectivelyshortened, and access efficiency can be improved, thereby effectivelyimplementing offloading.

Optionally, based on the embodiment shown in FIG. 8, the followingextended technical solution may further be included to form an extendedembodiment of the embodiment shown in FIG. 8.

In the extended embodiment of the embodiment shown in FIG. 8, when thefirst message carries identifiers of a plurality of second networkaccess points, specifically, the obtaining module 20 may obtain theidentifiers of the plurality of second network access points, and thegenerating module 21 is specifically configured to, when the firstmessage carries the identifiers of the plurality of second networkaccess points, screen obtained second network access points according toposition information of each second network access point and/or loadinformation of each second network access point, and generate a firstmessage that carries the identifiers of the plurality of second networkaccess points obtained by the obtaining module 20.

Optionally, based on the embodiment shown in FIG. 8, the generatingmodule 21 is specifically configured to, when the first message carriesidentifiers of a plurality of second network access points, directlygenerate a first message that carries identifiers of all second networkaccess points obtained by the obtaining module 20.

Optionally, based on the embodiment shown in FIG. 8, the sending module22 is further configured to, when the first message includes only anidentifier of one second network access point, send, to the UE, a firstmessage that carries the identifier of the one second network accesspoint, so that the UE accesses a second network access pointcorresponding to the identifier of the one second network access point.

Optionally, based on the embodiment shown in FIG. 8, the network sidedevice further includes a receiving module. The receiving module isconfigured to receive a second message that is sent by the UE andcarries position information of the UE and/or signal quality informationof each second network access point. At this time, correspondingly, thegenerating module 21 is configured to, when the first message includesonly an identifier of one second network access point, screen, accordingto the position information of the UE and/or the signal qualityinformation of each second network access point received by thereceiving module and position information of each second network accesspoint and/or load information of each second network access point, aplurality of second network access points obtained by the obtainingmodule 20; and generate a first message that carries only the identifierof the second network access point.

Optionally, based on the foregoing embodiment, the first network is a3GPP mobile communication network, and a second network is a non-3GPPmobile communication network; or the first network is a non-3GPP mobilecommunication network, and a second network is a short distance wirelesscommunication network; or the first network is a 3GPP mobilecommunication network, and a second network is a short distance wirelesscommunication network.

Optionally, based on the foregoing embodiment, the 3GPP mobilecommunication network includes a GSM, WCDMA, TD-SCDMA, or LTE network.The non-3GPP mobile communication network includes WIMAX or CDMA2000.The short distance wireless communication network includes a WLAN,infrared, Bluetooth, or Zigbee.

Optionally, based on the foregoing embodiment, when the second networkis a WLAN, the identifier of the second network access point includes abasic service set identifier BSSID of the second network access pointand/or a media access control MAC layer address of the second networkaccess point. Definitely, based on the foregoing combination, an ESSIDmay further be included. For example, the identifier of the secondnetwork access point may be the BSSID of the second network accesspoint+an ESSID of the second network access point.

Optionally, based on the foregoing embodiment, the network side devicein this embodiment further includes an establishing module. Thereceiving module is further configured to receive registrationinformation sent by a second network access point, where theregistration information includes an identifier of the second networkaccess point. The establishing module is connected to the receivingmodule, and the establishing module is configured to establish a mappingbetween the identifier of the second network access point received bythe receiving module and the first network. At this time,correspondingly, the obtaining module is connected to the establishingmodule, and the obtaining module 20 is configured to obtain theidentifier of the second network access point from the mapping betweenthe identifier of the second network access point and the first network,where the mapping is established by the establishing module.

With the network side device in the foregoing embodiment, animplementation mechanism for implementing access by adopting theforegoing modules is the same as an implementation mechanism in theforegoing relevant method embodiment, and for details, reference may bemade to the description of the foregoing relevant method embodiment,which is not described herein again.

With the network side device according to the foregoing embodiment, byadopting the foregoing modules, one second network access point can beselected from a plurality of second network access points for a UE toaccess, and the UE does not need to attempt to access second networkaccess points one by one, so that an access delay can be effectivelyshortened, and access efficiency can be improved, thereby effectivelyimplementing offloading.

FIG. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of an access system provided inan embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 9, the accesssystem in this embodiment includes a UE 30 and a network side device 40.

The UE 30 may specifically adopt the embodiment shown in FIG. 7, and thenetwork side device 40 may adopt a network side device in the embodimentshown in FIG. 8. Or the UE 30 may specifically adopt a UE in theextended embodiment of the embodiment shown in FIG. 7, and the networkside device 40 may adopt a network side device in the extendedembodiment of the embodiment shown in FIG. 8. Access is implemented byadopting an implementation mechanism of a relevant method in theforegoing relevant method embodiment, and for details, reference may bemade to the description of the foregoing relevant embodiment, which isnot described herein again.

With the access system according to this embodiment, by adopting theforegoing UE and network side device, one second network access pointcan be selected from a plurality of second network access points for theUE to access, and the UE does not need to attempt to access secondnetwork access points one by one, so that an access delay can beeffectively shortened, and access efficiency can be improved, therebyeffectively implementing offloading.

The network side device in the foregoing embodiment of the presentinvention may specifically be a RAN device, a device on a core networkside, or a device on a packet data network side. For example, the RANdevice may be an RAN device in a 2G radio access network, a 3G radioaccess network, a 4G radio access network, and a future radio accessnetwork. In the foregoing embodiment of the present invention, thesecond network access point may be an AP device in WLAN technologies,such as 802.11a, 802.11c, 802.11g, 802.11ac, and 802.11ag.

The foregoing described apparatus embodiments are merely exemplary. Theunits described as separate parts may or may not be physicallyseparated, and parts displayed as units may or may not be physicalunits, may be located in one position, or may be distributed on at leasttwo network elements. A part of or all of the modules may be selectedaccording to an actual need to achieve the objectives of the solutionsof the embodiments. Persons of ordinary skill in the art may understandand implement the embodiments without creative efforts.

Finally, it should be noted that the foregoing embodiments are merelyintended for describing the technical solutions of the present inventionrather than limiting the present invention. Although the presentinvention is described in detail with reference to the foregoingembodiments, persons of ordinary skill in the art should understand thatthey may still make modifications to the technical solutions describedin the foregoing embodiments, or make equivalent replacements to a partof technical features of the technical solutions, as long as thesemodifications or replacements do not make the essence of correspondingtechnical solutions depart from the scope of the technical solutions inthe embodiments of the present invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. An access method comprising: receiving, by amobile device, from a network side device, identifiers of a plurality ofnetwork access points in a second network, wherein each of the networkaccess points is capable of performing air interface offloading with afirst network in which the mobile device is currently located, andwherein the identifiers of the plurality of network access points arederived by the network side device based on at least load and positioninformation in association with each network access point; selecting, bythe mobile device, one of the plurality of network access points; andreceiving, by the mobile device, data from the selected network accesspoint and the first network.
 2. The method according to claim 1, whereinselecting one of the plurality of network access points is based on oneof: position information in association with the mobile device, signalquality information in association with each network access point, orposition information in association with the mobile device and signalquality information in association with each network access point. 3.The method according to claim 1, further comprising: receiving, by themobile device, at least the load information of each network accesspoint, wherein selecting one of the plurality of network access pointsis based on at least the position information of each network accesspoint.
 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first network isa 3^(rd) Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) mobile communicationnetwork, and a second network is a non-3GPP mobile communicationnetwork; or the first network is a non-3GPP mobile communicationnetwork, and the second network is a short distance wirelesscommunication network; or the first network is a 3GPP mobilecommunication network, and the second network is a short distancewireless communication network; wherein the 3GPP mobile communicationnetwork comprises a global mobile communication (GSM), wideband codedivision multiple access (WCDMA), time division-synchronous codedivision multiple access (TD-SCDMA), or long term evolution (LTE)network, the non-3GPP mobile communication network comprises worldwideinteroperability for microwave access (WIMAX) or code division multipleaccess (CDMA) 2000, and the short distance wireless communicationnetwork comprises a wireless local area network (WLAN), infrared,Bluetooth, or Zigbee.
 5. The method according to claim 4, wherein whenthe second network is a WLAN, the identifiers of the plurality ofnetwork access points comprise any one or a combination of thefollowing: a basic service set identifier (BSSID) of the second networkaccess point and a media access control (MAC) layer address of thesecond network access point.
 6. The method according to claim 1, furthercomprising: receiving, by the mobile device, at least the loadinformation of each network access point, wherein selecting one of theplurality of network access points is based on at least the loadinformation of each network access point.
 7. The method according toclaim 1, further comprising: receiving, by the mobile device, at leastthe load information of each network access point, wherein selecting oneof the plurality of network access points is based on at least theposition information of the mobile device.
 8. The method according toclaim 1, further comprising: receiving, by the mobile device, at leastthe load information of each network access point, wherein selecting oneof the plurality of network access points is based on at least signalquality information of each network access point.
 9. A mobile devicecomprising a processor and a non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium including computer-executable instructions that, when executed,cause the processor to perform operations comprising: receiving, from anetwork side device, identifiers of a plurality of network access pointsin a second network, wherein each of the network access points iscapable of performing air interface offloading with a first network inwhich the mobile device is currently located, and wherein theidentifiers of a plurality of network access points are derived by thenetwork side device based on at least load and position information inassociation with each network access point; selecting, by the mobiledevice, one of the plurality of network access points; and receivingdata from the selected network access point and the first network. 10.The mobile device according to claim 9, wherein selecting one of theplurality of network access points is based on one of: positioninformation in association with the mobile device, signal qualityinformation in association with each network access point or, positioninformation in association with the mobile device and signal qualityinformation in association with each network access point.
 11. Themobile device according to claim 9, wherein the operations furtherinclude: receiving, by the mobile device, the position information ofeach network access point and/or the load information of each networkaccess point, wherein selecting one of the plurality of network accesspoints is based on at least one of: the position information of eachnetwork access point, the load information of each network access point,position information of the mobile device, or signal quality informationof each network access point.
 12. A system of chipset for a mobiledevice configured to execute computer-executable instructions stored ina memory of the mobile device and enable the mobile device to performoperations comprising: receiving, from a network side device,identifiers of a plurality of network access points in a second network,wherein each of the network access points is capable of performing airinterface offloading with a first network in which the mobile device iscurrently located, and wherein the identifiers of a plurality of networkaccess points are derived by the network side device based on at leastload and position information in association with each network accesspoint; selecting, by the mobile device, one of the second network accesspoint from the plurality of second network access points; and receiving,by the mobile device, data from the selected network access point andthe first network.
 13. The system of chipset according to claim 12,wherein selecting one of the plurality of network access points is basedon one of: position information in association with the mobile device,signal quality information in association with each network access pointor, position information in association with the mobile device andsignal quality information in association with each network accesspoint.
 14. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium includingcomputer-executable instructions for a mobile device that, when thecomputer-executable instructions are executed by a processor of themobile device, enables the mobile device to perform operationscomprising: receiving, from a network side device, identifiers of aplurality of network access points in a second network, wherein each ofthe network access points is capable of performing air interfaceoffloading with a first network in which the mobile device is currentlylocated, and wherein the identifiers of a plurality of network accesspoints are derived by a network side device based on at least load andposition information in association with each network access point;selecting, by the mobile device, one of the plurality of network accesspoints; and receiving, by the mobile device, data from the selectednetwork access point and the first network.
 15. The non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium according to claim 14, whereinselecting one of the plurality of network access points is based on oneof: position information in association with the mobile device, signalquality information in association with each network access point or,position information in association with the mobile device and signalquality information in association with each network access point. 16.The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to claim14, wherein when the computer-executable instructions are executed bythe processor of the mobile device, enabling the mobile device tofurther perform operations comprising: receiving the positioninformation of each network access point and/or the load information ofeach network access point, wherein selecting one of the plurality ofnetwork access points is based on at least the position information ofeach network access point.
 17. The non-transitory computer-readablestorage medium according to claim 14, wherein when thecomputer-executable instructions are executed by the processor of themobile device, enabling the mobile device to further perform operationscomprising: receiving the position information of each network accesspoint and/or the load information of each network access point, whereinselecting one of the plurality of network access points is based on atleast the load information of each network access point.
 18. Thenon-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to claim 14,wherein when the computer-executable instructions are executed by theprocessor of the mobile device, enabling the mobile device to furtherperform operations comprising: receiving the position information ofeach network access point and/or the load information of each networkaccess point, wherein selecting one of the plurality of network accesspoints is based on at least position information of the mobile device.19. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according toclaim 14, wherein when the computer-executable instructions are executedby the processor of the mobile device, enabling the mobile device tofurther perform operations comprising: receiving the positioninformation of each network access point and/or the load information ofeach network access point, wherein selecting one of the plurality ofnetwork access points is based on at least signal quality information ofeach network access point.